UPDATE 1-Former Senator McGovern mourned as man of decency, integrity

October 25, 2012|Reuters

* "A good and decent man," Biden says at prayer service

* Funeral scheduled for Friday afternoon

(Recasts with quotes from vice president, others at prayerservice)

By David Bailey

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Oct 25 (Reuters) - Former U.S. DemocraticSenator George McGovern was a friend, a mentor, a role model anda soft-spoken family man, mourners said on Thursday as theycelebrated the passionate opponent of the Vietnam war who wasdefeated in the 1972 presidential race.

McGovern, who was born and raised in South Dakota, died inSioux Falls on Sunday at a hospice center at age 90.

"George McGovern was a good and decent man," Vice PresidentJoe Biden said at a prayer service in Sioux Falls for McGovern,whom he credited for giving him the courage to run for the U.S.Senate.

Biden said McGovern's call to end the war in Vietnam helpedshape his political sensibilities more than anyone before orsince. "I honest to God believed that I could maybe go help himend this war," Biden said. "I honest to God believed that."

McGovern suffered one of the most lopsided defeats in U.S.history in the 1972 election, winning only Massachusetts and theDistrict of Columbia, against a well-oiled Republican politicalmachine headed by Richard Nixon.

"What people don't realize, had your father not been there,had your father never been in the Senate, so much more blood andso much more treasure would have been wasted," Biden toldMcGovern's children.

Robert Duffett, president of Dakota Wesleyan University,said the university, the city of Mitchell and the state of SouthDakota "lost a dear friend" who had an impact worldwide.

"George McGovern spoke truth to power," said Morris Dees,founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the nationalfinance director on McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign.

McGovern was a mentor to many Democrats. His 1972 campaignworkers included former President Bill Clinton and Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton.

"When I think of George, I think of a man of uncompromisingintegrity who dedicated his life to serving our state and ourcountry," said U.S. Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota.

Before the prayer service a steady stream of mourners viewedMcGovern in a flag-draped dark wood casket that was flanked byphotographs of the senator and flowers.

The soft-spoken son of a Methodist minister, McGovern was afierce advocate in the fight against world hunger who continuedto give speeches and write until shortly before his death. Heserved in the Senate for South Dakota from 1963 to 1981.

The senator had "an uncommon sort of patriotism that wasexpressed with great integrity and eloquence and the courage ofhis convictions," Thomas Knock, a professor at SouthernMethodist University who is writing a biography of McGovern,said in a telephone interview.

McGovern's legacy stretches well beyond his terms inCongress and presidential bids, to include the fight againstworld hunger, AIDS and other social issues.

McGovern's funeral was set for 1 p.m. on Friday at the MarySommervold Hall in the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciencein Sioux Falls.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Paul Thomasch, DavidStorey and Mohammad Zargham)